Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. continues construction of a two-turbine offshore wind project near its Beatrice oil platform near the shores of Scotlands. The two 5-megawatt turbines, a joint venture between Talisman and Scottish Southern Energy, is expected to provide a third of the electricity needed to run the oil platform. If successful, a full-scale offshore farm will be considered that could generate up to 1 gigawatt of electricity, according to Reuters. The first of the two 85-metre tall turbines will be shipped to its underwater support structure (as shown in picture) in early August. “We are already well advanced in the process of fixing the substructure jackets to the sea bed and the next step is to complete the assembly of the turbines and fix these to the jackets,” said Talisman Energy CEO Dr. Jim Buckee. “An important element of the project is that it will extend the life of the Beatrice platform and help maximize oil recovery from this field.”

In other wind news, Canadian Hydro Developers disclosed today that its Melancthon II Wind Project — the second of two phases that will result in a total of 200 megawatts of wind capacity — may not be in service until June, 2008. That’s a possible 12-month delay from original plans, and it’s expected to add $10 million to the project’s $265 million in capital costs. The reason: resistance by locals. According to RenewableEnergyAccess.com, approval of an environmental screening report has been caught up in an extended review process, largely because of letters of concern sent to the Ontario Ministry of Environment and requests that it elevate the review process to a higher level. This is a major blow for Canadian Hydro Developers, given that the 132-megawatt Melancthon II project is twice the size of Melancthon I.

My question is, how are we going to get the private sector to build these emission-free wind farms if such delays and added costs become a greater risk? A one-year delay seems quite long for a wind farm, given that the first phase already achieved approvals.

Meanwhile, another Ontario wind project is moving forward. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources announced today that Phase I of the Prince Wind Farm outside of Sault Ste. Marie is nearly complete and that Phase II is under construction. In total, the farm will have a capacity of 189 megawatts. About 20 of 126 turbines will be located on crown land, with the rest on private property. The farm is being built by Brookfield Power.

One last point on the issue of wind. Since July 1 I’ve been monitoring the performance of the three wind farms already in operation in Ontario and which together have a capacity of 207 megawatts. The emphasis here is on capacity, because rarely do these turbines reach that capacity. For example, in July so far the highest output of these three farms in a given hour of a day has been 157 megawatts, or 76 per cent of nameplate capacity. But through most of the month output has more consistently ranged between 35 megawatts (17 per cent) and 70 megawatts (34 per cent), even falling to zero at some points. On one particular day, output never exceeded 6 megawatts — not the greatest performance.

What’s my point? My point is that while wind is great — I love wind energy — we shouldn’t be fooled to believe that the announcement of a 100-megawatt wind farm means it will produce 100 megawatts of power. For power planning purposes, these systems need to be dramatically discounted.

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